apal throne--which
you well know I have--it has been that I might be yet a more powerful
friend to your majesty, and render you what you are entitled to be, the
first prince in Christendom."

"Tut, tut!" exclaimed the king, who was, nevertheless, moved by the
artful appeal.

"The gifts I have received from foreign princes," pursued Wolsey, seeing
the effect he had produced, "the wealth I have amassed, have all been
with a view of benefiting your majesty." "Humph!" exclaimed the king.

"To prove that I speak the truth, sire," continued the wily cardinal,
"the palace at Hampton Court, which I have just completed--"

"And at a cost more lavish than I myself should have expended on it,"
interrupted the king angrily.

"If I had destined it for myself, I should not have spent a tithe of
what I have done," rejoined Wolsey. "Your highness's unjust accusations
force me to declare my intentions somewhat prematurely. Deign," he
cried, throwing at the king's feet, "deign to accept that palace and all
within it. You were pleased, during your late residence there, to express
your approval of it. And I trust it will find equal favour in your eyes,
now that it is your own."

"By holy Mary, a royal gift!" cried Henry. "Rise, You are not the
grasping, selfish person you have been represented."

"Declare as much to my enemies, sire, and I shall be more content. You
will find the palace better worth acceptance than at first sight might
appear."

"How so?" cried the king.

"Your highness will be pleased to take this key," said the cardinal; "it
is the key of the cellar."

"You have some choice wine there," cried Henry significantly; "given you
by some religious house, or sent you by some foreign potentate, ha!"

"It is wine that a king might prize," replied the cardinal. "Your
majesty will find a hundred hogsheads in that cellar, and each hogshead
filled with gold."

"You amaze me!" cried the king, feigning astonishment. "And all this you
freely give me?"

"Freely and fully, sire," replied Wolsey. "Nay, I have saved it for you.
Men think I have cared for myself, whereas I have cared only for your
majesty. Oh! my dear liege, by the devotion I have just approved to you,
and which I would also approve, if needful, with my life, I beseech you
to consider well before you raise Anne Boleyn to the throne. In giving
you this counsel, I know I hazard the favour I have just regained. But
even at that hazard, I must offer it. Your inf